momamamo The traps must be working -- I have seen only two cucumber beetles this year. But hundreds of squash bugs, which I HATE and have found no organic way to kill them! vgkg I used both clove oil and the tayuya powder as the bait and put out five bottles each of the poison stew on their sides, thought I'd cover all bases. I tuck the open end of the bottles under large leaves and keep a general lookout for deteriorating leaves and move them if necessary. From what I could tell of the posts last year, both baits work equally well, and my use of both of them limits any conclusion I personally might make about the best one. But I do know they're working for me. I have cukes in one place, melons way down at the end of that trellised row, and squash two rows over from them. They don't seem to bother my beans, though I know they can be a host plant for these pests. Here's a full list: Vegetable crops damaged include cucumber, squash, beet, bean, pea, sweet potato, okra, corn, lettuce, onion, and various cabbages. Bean and soybean are especially favored (Chittenden 1912, Saba 1970). Except for nematodes, the natural enemies of banded cucumber beetle are poorly known. The mermithid nematode Filipjevimermis leipsandra affects this species, and natural infection levels in South Carolina were reported to be in the range of 20 to 40 percent from May through October. Ants have been shown to be important egg predators in the tropics, and likely are important elsewhere. http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/veg/bean/banded_cucumber_beetle.htm I didn't know ants might be egg-predators until I read the link above, so I suppose that's good reason not to destroy them. Do try the clove oil and Sevin to see if the beetle numbers go down. This is usually the heaviest infestation time, and I think it's impossible to keep their numbers small by hand-killing them. If it doesn't work for you, you can always mix the clove oil with a little olive oil and use it for toothaches or to un-itch mosquito bites, as well as in cooking! It's anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antifungal!

Hi Miss Chybil I do not beleive in any chemicals to get rid from pests. For about 15 years I did not use any chemicals in my garden. I have my share of pests but I let the good bugs to do my work for me.I have a lot of lady bugs, lacewings abd I even have praying mantis. This spring I had a infestation of aphids on my beautiful artemisia Powis Castle. It was so bad that I did not know what to do. I usually squish them between my fingers but in this case this plant is so delicate that I was afraid to ruin it. While I was still debating what to do, an army of lady bugs showed up and in three days cleaned up my two big and beautiful bushes like the atack naver happened. I have a lot of plants;my son says that I do not have a house with a garden but that I have a garden with a house.Right now a lot of people are complaining about white files infestation but I do not have a problem in my garden. Try to use no pesticides and improve your soil with organic matter and you will see the difference. If I were you I would go and buy some lady bugs or lacewings.Make sure that you water your plants before you release them. Good luck and good gardening. Rodica

I've read that in some cases, because the leaf was not able to close fully when a part of the insect is outside, the leaf will usually turn black. However, that's not to say every bug that is partially outside will cause this for the leaf. I've seen some really soft things like caterpillars have some parts outside but the plant was able to close enough (probably because caterpillar body is squishy) and digest the part that was inside.

suckerforroses: Patience is key to stratifying seeds of North American plants of any type. In any case, the Venus Flytrap seed should have sprouted by now. That terrarium kit is the worst idea I have seen in all my decades for North American carnivorous plants in any case. First off, it is not for beginners. Second off, carnivorous plant seed rarely take 100 percent, so you rarely have all of the species germinate. Third off, terrariums are the best way to kill carnivorous plants by promoting fungus, reducing the amount of sun they can recieve, and the drainage problems of terrariums promote bacterial infection to boot. Oh, one other point is that carnivorousplants take years to grow to a good size, so is also terrible for those of us with little patience. Some of the seeds might even take 6 months to actually sprout if at all. If you keep the kit, try stratifying them again for 8 weeks as carnivorousplants advised and then when you take it out of the fridge, ditch the terrarium top, drill some holes in the bottom and place it in a tray of 1 inch water under good window or florescent light and hope for the best. You can never tell how long the seeds they sent you in those little gimmick kits have been sitting around in cold strorage. The only stay viable for about a year or two. The Venus Flytrap seeds do not need stratification, but can survive cold overwintering, so it wont hurt anything to keep them cold, but that kit did not even tell you that the Flytrap seeds did not need stratification I bet. The other North Amrican seeds from the pitcher plants and sundews will need stratification for sure. Without cold, damp conditions their seed coats do not break down and allow them to germinate. If you are interested in growing carnivorous plants, get a real bargain by trading or asking for plants from growers here or by buying from a specialist nursery and obtaining adult plants with no nonsense instructions or silly terrariums to start with. Not many carnivorous plants need a terrarium to grow well (only a few of the finicky tropicals) in most environments.